Now or Never

CBC STORIES

In a world that can feel pretty scary, it’s easy to get stuck. This is a show that celebrates what it takes to try. To take the risk. To have the talk. To rock the speedo. Because making even the tiniest change takes courage, and hosts Ify and Trevor are here to remind you that you’re not alone when you do. New episodes every Thursday.

  1. 2D AGO

    How do you know if you're "getting bushed" and what to do about it?

    Across Canada, we've been hit with blizzards, snow squalls and extreme cold. So what keeps you from going stir-crazy in the dead of winter? On this episode of Now or Never, hear about the wild and creative ways people are avoiding cabin fever. After living in the Yukon for over 40 years, Cindy Billingham and her husband, Ron, moved to a small town in Newfoundland to live out their retirement years. But not too long after they renovated their home and settled in, Ron suddenly passed away. As Cindy navigates grief and newfound loneliness, she’s on a mission to find a new group of friends who can help her avoid “getting bushed” — a slang term she picked up in the Yukon that describes feelings of isolation and restlessness during the winter months. Maggie Glossop is an 80-year-old artist, affectionately known as the 'Bear Lady', thanks to her charming sculptures. Every winter for the past eight years, Maggie has stepped into Ottawa's Kitchissippi woods to build bears out of snow. Nearly a decade into the tradition, her sculptures continue to inspire people from near and far to get outside and hunt for the snow bears on the trail. For members of Cat Lake First Nation, winter offers an opportunity to bring much needed supplies into the community, via the winter road. As the climate changes, Rachel Wesley is trying to help her community navigate an uncertain future — and a difficult trade-off in trying to find an alternative to the winter road. We’re often told to fight back against peer pressure but at one work place, it’s the secret tool to get people out and moving. Trevor joins a group of colleagues in Winnipeg for their weekly workouts at Canada's windiest, coldest intersection, Portage and Main. And, 10,000 aluminum cans. That's how many cans Jeff Hamilton needs to collect, to pay for a projector and pull off his very first “Can Film Festival” in Whitehorse. It’s all part of his plan to bring people together to watch movies in the dreariest part of winter. But with only 5 days left until opening night, he’s still 363 cans short. CBC Yukon producer Andrew Hynes brings us the story of one man’s quixotic quest, and why he's so determined to do this, one can at a time.

    54 min

  2. JAN 29

    'We can't sit back and do nothing': How ordinary Canadians are pushing back in times of chaos

    Are you feeling paralyzed by the firehose of terrible news? We get it. We feel that way, too. So we did what Mr. Rogers always told us to do when we're feeling scared: look for the helpers. On this episode, hear how people just like you are channeling their feelings of helplessness into action, doing small things in the face of big problems. As a school bus driver in Minneapolis, Jodi has watched her bus empty out as four-year-olds of colour are too scared to come to school. Her neighbours won’t leave their house to go to the laundromat. So now Jodi, a Canadian with only a green card, has gas masks by her front door so she can take to the streets in protest against ICE actions in her city.  A group of Iranian-Canadians in Calgary are working around-the-clock to help people send messages to loved ones in Iran, during the country's ongoing communications blackout and deadly protests. Their lifeline? Satellite TV. Armin Zarringhalam and Sepidar Valian explain how it’s possible, and what it’s like trying to protest the Islamic Republic in Iran from afar. How do you laugh through a crisis? When Sudanese-Canadian comedian Faris Hytiaa was working on what would become his Juno-nominated album, Homesick, he was more afraid than he's ever been. Every member of his family was in Sudan as the war broke out in 2023, fighting to stay alive and make their way to Canada. Faris shares how the ongoing war in Sudan is impacting his comedy, and his identity. And last week we asked you how you're channeling your feelings of helplessness into action, and we got an earful. From attempting to organize your first benefit concert (with zero experience) to volunteering with refugees, hear what people are doing.

    52 min

  3. JAN 22

    Uncharted territory: What it's really like to be 'the first'

    Five trailblazing Canadians tell us how they smashed barriers in the worlds of soccer, aviation, AI, education, and.....eating the most hot peppers in a single sitting?!? As a kid, Zoey Williams used to tag along on her dad's flights. That planted the seed for Zoey, who went on to be the first Black female pilot at Air Canada. Zoey and her dad Captain Orrett Williams tell us what it takes to break through barriers in a profession that remains largely white and male. 22-year-old Danielle Boyer invented a robot that uses AI to teach kids her community's language, Anishinaabemowin. Thinking deeply about the ethics of AI and technology, Danielle says just because you can build it, doesn't mean you should.   Mohamed AbdAllah is on a mission to create the first Islamic private school in Newfoundland and Labrador. While the province is predominantly Christian, its Muslim population is growing substantially, meaning more and more families are searching for a faith-based education option outside the public school system.  People have called him insane, but Mike Jack has traveled around the world, breaking 20 Guinness World Records in extreme chili pepper eating. Which begs the question: why?  Jade Kovacevic made history as the first player to sign with the National Super League, Canada's first professional women soccer's league. But after getting injured, Jade was forced to retire after one season with Toronto AFC. Jade reflects on the bittersweet moment of her trailblazing career coming to an end, and what comes next.

    52 min

  4. JAN 15

    Why this millennial wants to give away a $300,000 inheritance. What else are you renouncing this year?

    There is a power in publicly declaring you no longer own, support, or believe in something. Meet five Canadians doing just that. Jess Klaassen-Wright is part of a small but growing movement of young people in Canada renouncing their generational wealth. And right now, Jess is grappling with what to do with an unexpected $300,000 inheritance. Jess tells us why it’s important to talk more openly about money, including how much you have, where it came from, and asking yourself how much you really need.  Since Dominique Gené was a kid, religion and her relationship to God have been her anchor. She spent a good chunk of her life in church. Until 2024, when she decided to permanently part ways with her faith. Two years ago, Gavin MacNeil said goodbye to his smartphone and social media accounts for good. Now at 18, and months away from moving away from home for the first time, can he hang on to his commitment? When Franklin Fontaine ended up in jail, it derailed his up-and-coming rap career. While he was inside he decided to renounce the drugs and gangs that had messed up his life. Now he’s using his story to try to help kids not make the same mistakes. And remember "Elbows Up," when thousands of outraged Canadians vowed to stop buying U.S products after Trump's 51st state comments? We check in with Mike Robitaille, a guy who took this boycott to the extreme, to see if he's still going strong almost a year later.

    54 min

  5. JAN 8

    What would you do with a once-in-a-lifetime moment?

    Whether it's through sheer luck or hard work, you've been handed an opportunity you've maybe only dreamed of. What do you do with it? Actor Feaven Abera has been hustling in the industry since she was 17 years old. She remembers taking jobs to pay for acting classes, commuting from Hamilton to Toronto and back for auditions and student films, and sometimes coming up short on bus fare. At 25, she was ready to call it quits, until a phone call changed everything. When Joey Gibbs spotted a lost stuffed bunny at the Vancouver airport, he decided it needed to go on an adventure of a lifetime too before being reunited with the owners. On a whim, Amanda Buhse entered her name to be a seat filler at the Emmys. When she got the call, she had less than 24 hours to get from Winnipeg to LA and be camera ready to rub elbows with the stars on TV. Edith Lemay, Sebastian Pelletier and their four children have swam with dolphins in Indonesia, sailed high above Cappadocia in a hot air balloon, and jumped into ancient lakes in Mongolia. But this epic around-the-world-adventure is more than just fun - they're also trying to create 'visual memories' before three of their kids lose their eyesight permanently.  What do you pack to take to space? How do you handle the fear? And how do you prepare your family to watch you blast off? Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen gets personal ahead of his mission to the moon.

    48 min

  6. 2025-12-18

    Who's been answering Trevor's phone for three years?

    ‘Tis the season for exchanging greetings, sending salutations, and dashing off (humblebrag) holiday letters.  But chances are, there’s someone you haven’t reached out to yet…so what are you waiting for? Today Now or Never is nudging you to finally get those meaningful messages out into the world, starting with our own Trevor Dineen. For the past three (!) years, a complete stranger with Trevor’s old phone number, has been redirecting his birthday messages and phone calls. Trevor has never spoken to him, but today, he calls up this helpful stranger to say thanks.  When her baby boy Lewiston was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Calgary’s Jessica Janzen was determined his short life would be full of joy. That meant dance parties to Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake. Now, Jessica is trying to get Timberlake to join her in a dance for what would be Lewiston’s 10th birthday. When Laurie Froman was a teenager growing up in Six Nations of the Grand River, her dad used to do little drawings on her lunch bags, along with this simple message: “Have a good day. Love, Dad.” Laurie tells us why she’s hung on to these paper lunchbags for 35 years, and why the message is even more dear to her since her dad Cecil passed away.  Toronto’s Cheryl Swanson didn't expect to give birth in her living room, but her son had other plans. Ever since that night she’s held onto a debt of gratitude that she needs to deliver. The question is: twelve years later, can we find the paramedic to make it happen?  When her colleagues at the University of Regina learned that Angela was fleeing domestic abuse, they stepped up and helped her feel safe. Angela shares the difference it made and how other workplaces can do the same. Keith Merker wrote a Christmas song to cheer up his wife Lindsay as she was going through chemotherapy. The couple wasn’t in the spirit to enjoy the song at the time, so it collected dust for over a decade…Until this year, when Keith was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. The family is now on a mission to use the song to spread a message of joy and hope as widely and loudly as they possibly can.

    47 min

  7. 2025-12-11

    From the night sky to your old wedding videos, here's what you're trying to save right now

    This week, stories of people racing to save something before it disappears completely. For most of his life, Gerry Smerchanski has watched the stars from his property in the small town of Teulon, Manitoba. But now the town has grown up around his home, and the amateur astronomer’s night sky is disappearing because of light pollution. Find out how he’s fighting to preserve the night sky, and why it matters. After looking all over her Saskatoon home, Barb Rudoski finally found her old wedding video from 1991. Now that she’s transferred the VHS to digital, she’s finally able to take her daughters back in time to the big hair, shoulder pads, and 90s-tastic realness of her wedding day, with hilarious results.  Where have all the male friendships gone? According to Statistics Canada, we're seeing our friends less often, and have fewer close friends to confide in — and this is especially true for men. Find out how something called the "Wednesday Waffle" is helping Justin, Arman, Sawyer and Mike of the Toronto Dingos Aussie-rules football club stay connected, after suffering a devastating loss on their team. Life in the small town of Flatrock, N.L. used to revolve around the church — until it was put up for sale. Although they couldn’t save their beloved church, Sonya Power-Parsons and a group of volunteers now dedicate much of their lives to reviving the community cemetery where generations of family members are laid to rest, a place that was also at risk of disappearing forever. And what happens when you're a little too good at saving things? When her living room was so filled with boxes that there was only a narrow path left to walk through, Colleen Peters knew something needed to change. Hear the tips and tricks that helped her face her collecting problem. Isabell Weitman has always loved creating, but she turned to art as her creative outlet when she was diagnosed with a nervous system disorder and wasn’t able to work. The BC-based artist creates beautifully eerie pieces using items that a lot of us would never think of saving, including bones, dead insects and dried flowers, plants and fruits. And she recently found an artistic collaborator — an orb weaver spider named Gary, whose webs have become the focal point of Isabell’s works.

    54 min

  8. 2025-11-27

    So you screwed up. Now what?

    Messing things up is part of the human experience. But what happens when you fail at something so big, and so publicly...how do you come back from that? On this episode, four people confess their most epic fails, and what they're doing to dig themselves out. Edmonton’s Kayla Huszar used to cajole, bribe and beg her children to brush their teeth. But her "gentle parenting" approach led to both her kids needing emergency dental surgery, and feelings of failure. How Kayla created boundaries, stopped getting bullied by her kids, and ditched the permissive approach. When Jeremy Campbell first dreamed up the Line Spike Frontenac music festival this summer, he pictured 20,000 fans in a field, singing along to an all-Canadian lineup featuring Chantal Kreviazuk and Burton Cummings. Instead, his liquor license got revoked, fewer than 4000 people showed up, and he's now over $225,000 in debt. He tells us what went wrong, and why he still has the confidence to try again next year. Ify takes her mic to Toronto's Metropolitan University, where students confess their biggest academic fails. After years of gruelling training and international marathons, long-distance runner Natasha Wodak failed all of her attempts to make it to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now 43 years old, the life-long competitor is learning how to accept where her body is at during this stage of her career — although she still hasn’t ruled out the 2028 Olympic Games. After an existential crisis in her early 20s, Erica Rankin decided to quit her 9 to 5 job and start a protein cookie dough business. Things were going well at first, but after a mouldy cookie dough incident and some retail flops, Erica was forced to file for bankruptcy and move back in with her parents. She tells us why she's still determined to live the entrepreneurial life, and how she's doing it despite a lot of burned bridges.

    54 min
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4.6
out of 5
117 Ratings

About

In a world that can feel pretty scary, it’s easy to get stuck. This is a show that celebrates what it takes to try. To take the risk. To have the talk. To rock the speedo. Because making even the tiniest change takes courage, and hosts Ify and Trevor are here to remind you that you’re not alone when you do. New episodes every Thursday.

Information

  • Channel
    CBC STORIES
  • Creator
    CBC
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © CBC 2026
  • Show Website
    Now or Never
  • Provider
    Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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