As It Happens

CBC News & Politics
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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.

  1. 22 HR AGO

    Spain’s standoff with Donald Trump

    The government of Spain is adamantly against the U.S. - Israeli attack on Iran, and it repeated that position today, even in the face of Donald Trump's trade threats.  A non-profit that monitors financial markets says it's concerned that online prediction markets were allowing people to place wagers on the strikes on Iran -- and that many of those betting appeared to know too much.  A Texas firefighter tells us what it was like to climb a very, very, very tall communications tower -- to rescue a pair of hot-air ballooners who got tangled up up top. A Vancouver city councillor is baffled as to why the mayor accused him of handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day. And despite the mayor's apologies, he's not feeling very forgiving.  A Canadian comic working in the UK explains how Brits are responding to his blistering take on the peculiar culinary phenomenon known as "picky tea".  When certain cockroaches couple up, they demonstrate their commitment by eating each other's wings -- an act of real tenderness. Or toughness, depending on the wings. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that knows sometimes you have plans for dinner -- and sometimes you just wing it.

    59 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Lloyd Axworthy says Canada needs to be clear about Iran

    Ottawa has stated support for military action, but they've also made it clear that Canada had no involvement in that action. Former Foreign Affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy says the government is being unnecessarily unclear. As the U.S. and Israel continue to hammer Iran, an Alberta man fears for his family in Tehran; he tells us they all yearn for change, but he doesn't want them to die for it.  A woman in Lebanon tells us about helping feed those who have been forced from their homes and onto the streets of Beirut -- as the conflict widens. Her B.C. town did away with daylight saving time over a century ago -- and now, our guest is welcoming the rest of the province to sit back instead of springing forward.  The late Len Garry was a crucial part of the rhythm section in an up-and-coming skiffle band in the UK in the '50s -- but left before they became The Beatles. A partly blind refugee was found dead in Buffalo, New York, days after being released from federal custody. His family wants answers.  The author of a new study says there's been a concerning increase in the number of young men in Ontario requiring help for their gambling. And he's pretty sure he knows why.  A musician was forced to hold a very delicate, centuries-old violin on a flight, because the airline insisted its case was too big. Now, that airline has changed its policy.  As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that's glad she refused to play second fiddle.

    1h 2m

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    Why the way forward in Iran is anything but clear

    After three days of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes across Iran -- a journalist tells us that, despite the death of the Ayatollah, the regime remains in full crackdown mode.  A pro-regime academic in Tehran tells us the government has a clear plan to stay in power -- and says Iranians are united against their true enemies: the U.S. and Israel.  One of Canada's last diplomats in Iran tells us Prime Minister Carney did the right thing by supporting strikes on the country -- no matter the potential fallout at home.  Our guest built a seasonings company called Spyce Girlz. But now that the '90s girl-power pop group is threatening to sue her, she's feeling kind of salty.  With the world feeling like a dumpster fire, one New Yorker decided to focus on a problem she could do something about: cleaning up the Brooklyn Bridge. Major League Baseball has a new system that can tell for sure whether a pitch was high, low, or just right -- but for it to work, a lot of players are having to admit they're not as tall as they claimed to be. As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that never shrinks from the truth.

    1h 3m

  4. 5 DAYS AGO

    Paralympic skier Natalie Wilkie named flag bearer

    Wilkie has already won a phenomenal number of medals -- but says she's still surprised and thrilled to be representing Canada at the ceremony.  After two women in Uganda are arrested for kissing in public, an activist tells us the LGBTQ+ community is on high alert -- and doing everything it can to push for their release.  Mark Carney is in India looking to make new trade deals -- and our guest says it's just another instance of a Canadian prime minister putting economic interests ahead of the safety of the country's Sikh community.  A Halifax mother tells us about her daughter, who died in a homeless encampment -- in the hope that it will encourage people to be more understanding of others caught in the throes of addiction.  A researcher takes us beat by beat through a new study on the way some caterpillars use complex rhythms to gain access to ant colonies. A young pitching prospect believes he cracked the code of athletic excellence -- by cracking, and eating, 30 raw eggs a day for a month.  As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that's not sure you should rely on a deus eggs machina.

    1h 4m

  5. 6 DAYS AGO

    Going back to school in Tumbler Ridge

    Just about two weeks after the deadly shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, students and their parents are touring new portable classrooms -- and still unsure about how to move forward.  The company behind the AI chatbot Claude is hoping to put guardrails on the Pentagon's use of its tech. But the U.S. military is pushing back.  Nova Scotia's government closes a dozen provincial heritage sites, to the shock of our guest -- whose family once lived in the now-shuttered Fisherman’s Life Museum.  For years, a pediatric surgeon at Winnipeg's Children’s Hospital has been pushing for a designated space for Indigenous patients. And now, construction is finally underway.  Having uncovered why Scotch tape squeals, we are once again providing an answer to a question you didn’t ask: why basketball shoes squeak that squeak. To ensure customer courtesy, Burger King will deploy AI in employees' headsets, that will keep a tally of the number of times they say "welcome", "please", and "thank you." As It Happens, the Thursday edition, Radio that suggests they mind their cheese and Qs.

    1h 7m

  6. 26 FEB

    Where is Canada’s Immigration Minister?

    Canada's Immigration Minister is under fire after Radio-Canada journalists reveal the organizations who work with her, and some of her own Liberal colleagues, says she's often unreachable -- and perhaps not up to the job.  Hundreds of American nurses have been welcomed north of the border, after leaving the U.S. during Donald Trump's first year in office; one tells us he's never going back.  Zambia needs to replace healthcare funding slashed by U.S. cuts -- and our guest tells us the sub-Saharan nation is about to accept some pretty unhealthy terms from the Trump Administration.  A researcher wanted to test the so-called "drunken monkey hypothesis" -- and that meant he had to perfect a technique for collecting chimpanzee urine in the wild. An elementary school basketball team in Utah is obsessed with attending the local high school team's games. But their minds were blown when the high school team showed up to watch them.  Researchers finally solve a mystery that has vexed...well, researchers: the mystery of why Scotch tape makes a sort of screeching sound when you peel a piece off. As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that knows tape research is tough -- but you just stick to it.

    58 min

  7. 25 FEB

    How St. John’s is surviving Snowmageddon, the sequel

    The fire chief in St. John's tells us that, after a series of punishing snowstorms, he and his crew worked overtime to help dig Newfoundlanders out -- and also helped deliver a new one. Canada's Minister of Artificial Intelligence meets with OpenAI over the company's failure to report disturbing posts by the Tumbler Ridge shooter to law enforcement.  Four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there is still no end in sight. We'll return to a guest who's working to honour Bucha's dead and to help the city move forward. A brand new American inter-agency task force may have helped Mexico track down El Mencho -- another indication of the increased militarization of the battle against the cartels.   A WWII historian tells us the story that stopped him in his tracks -- a story that ended with a 108-year-old Ontario woman being presented with a long-overdue wartime medal.  During a soccer game in Turkey, a gull is felled mid-flight when it's smacked by a ball -- and saved when a player immediately begins CPR. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that tells the whole story -- from death to rebirdth.

    59 min

  8. 24 FEB

    When cartel violence “becomes something normal”

    A resident of Puerto Vallarta tells us what it's like in the Mexican city one day after the killing of a cartel leader triggered waves of violent retaliation across the country. A geopolitical analyst tells us how the U.S. is putting pressure on Mexico to rein in the cartels -- and reflects on the effectiveness of taking out the kingpins like El Mencho. Canada's Artificial Intelligence Minister summons OpenAI officials to Ottawa -- to explain what they knew about the Tumbler Ridge shooter, and when.  A UN fact-finding mission to El Fasher says what they found after the capture of the Sudanese city by the RSF bears the "hallmarks of genocide". Profile writer Susan Sheehan's daughter remembers her mother's remarkable gift for disappearing into her subject's lives, and revealing the forces that shaped their struggles. A restaurant in a small British town installs up an official-looking plaque claiming the group Toto wrote a hit song on the premises -- but the local historical society does not bless the claims about "Africa". As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that wouldn't expect this behaviour from a Toto stranger.

    1h 1m
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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.

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