Day 6

PLUS: The best TV and streaming of 2024; how to survive the holidays if you have trouble drinking responsibly; how Kraftwerk's Autobahn set the stage for 50 years of electronic pop music; Die Harsh, the Christmas Musical; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Syrians search for loved ones at the notorious Sednaya prison; the writer behind the Netflix hit Hot Frosty; Becky Toyne's 2024 book giving guide; how Elon Musk will use his newfound political influence; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: How Victor Hugo saved Notre Dame; an infectious diseases expert says it's time to pay closer attention to H5N1; the rise of armed gangs in Gaza; how Henry David Thoreau anticipated 'brain rot'; the best under-the-radar video games of 2024; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Australia bans children under 16 from major social media platforms; Kendrick Lamar caps an epic 2024 with GNX; how to avoid getting scammed by generative AI; Rudolph turns 60; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: a Métis lawyer tallies the costs of fraudulent claims of Indigenous identity; what a new viral video reveals about the Iranian government's approach to policing women's expression; reviewing Stalker 2, a video game about survival made by people who are surviving a war in Ukraine; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: The interactive documentary and video game Tetris Forever; how Donald Trump used a fringe, anti-democratic movement to takeover mainstream US politics; what the debate over bike lanes reveals about emotional space, identity and who belongs; the new series Say Nothing considers the difficult questions at play during The Troubles; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: What Trump's return means for Ukraine; searching for common grown with January 6 insurrection supporters; the legacy of Taylor Swift's Eras tour; Opera Review's quest to break down barriers in opera; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

They needed certainty. They got chaos. For over a decade, countless people from at least five different countries put their trust in a company offering prenatal paternity tests. It promised clients “99.9% accuracy” — but then routinely, for over a decade, identified the wrong biological fathers. Investigative journalists Jorge Barrera and Rachel Houlihan track down the people whose lives were torn apart by these bad results, the shattered families and acrimonious court cases that followed, and the story behind the company that continues to stand by its testing and is still operating today. More episodes of Uncover are available at: https://lnk.to/HSDNKxm3

PLUS: How Canada became a hub for the international meth trade; what one journalist saw from a front-row seat inside the control room for Love Is Blind; how the Smithsonian's collection of Presidential campaign ephemera tells the story of social change in the U.S.; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: How a supervised drug consumption site turned around one man's life; a Black journalist goes in search of what motivates Black Republicans; a prosecutor fighting 'pig butchering' scams; Randy Rainbow; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: What the debate over bubble tea says about cultural appropriation; Sugith Varughese reflects on 40 years as a Canadian actor of Indian descent; the 45th anniversary of The Specials and the legacy of 2 Tone Records; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: How citizen-run mutual aid networks became the backbone of Sudan's humanitarian crisis response; an investigative reporter who spent decades covering the Menendez brothers says it's time to reexamine their convictions; film critic Dana Stevens makes the case for overly ambitious box office flops; Emily St. John Mandel reflects on Station Eleven, ten years after it's publication; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: A new NHL series shines a light on the league – and its relationship with Amazon; how Greenland sharks live up to 500 years and what that might mean for cancer research; how Gordon Lightfoot beat Janis Joplin to a #1 hit with Kris Kristofferson’s Me and Bobby McGee; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: 1939, a play about a residential school performing Shakespeare, delivers comedy, pathos and an underlying sense of trauma; Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom finally lets you play as Zelda but does it deliver on the hype?; why we love baseball in 50 defining moments; the ballet choreographer bringing Indigenous storytelling to an international stage; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: A new podcast about two journalists and the January 6th supporters who moved in down the street; a Hattian immigration activist defending her community against racist conspiracy theories; leaked documents show the staggering extent of Russian interference in European politics; a lost Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan album finally sees the light of day; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: The Bibi Files premieres at TIFF; the man who voiced Darth Vader in the Ojibwe version of Star Wars; Underconsumption Core; former Runaways bassist Jackie Fox on her new board game Rock Hard 1977; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: A handbook to help schools fight back against anti-trans activism; a review of Star Wars Outlaws; the Judy Garland Museum's bid to win back Dorothy's ruby slippers; Sook-Yin Lee on love, sex, intimacy and her new movie Paying For It; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Three years after the fall of Kabul, the Taliban cracks down even further on women in Afghanistan; video game actor Jennifer Hale says the labour dispute in gaming is a warning about the future of AI and work; more than 20 years after he was paralyzed by an an Israeli sniper, Fadi Deeb is carrying the Palestinian flag at the Paralympic Games; an economist makes the case for a limit on personal wealth and a world without billionaires; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Writer and musician Allie Goertz uncovers the beauty in Nine In Nails' harshest songs; young female artists in China are finding empowerment in Nüshu, an ancient script practiced for centuries in secrecy; how paint buckets and loneliness helped create the Only Murders in the Building theme; after 30 years, the bus from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has finally been found; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: Commanders of an Israeli military unit with a record of abuse are playing key roles in Gaza; how comedian Allison Reese perfected her Kamala Harris impression at just the right time; a retired Canadian wrestler's plans to bring back the glory days of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling; The Umbrella Academy's oddly great dance sequences; writer Maia Kobabe on eir graphic novel Gender Queer and having the most challenged book in the U.S. for three years running; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.