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. 21 HR AGO

    'He wouldn't have made it another 12 hours.' Stories of racing against the clock

    At some point we all feel the squeeze of the clock. On this episode, every story is a race against time. If you get lost in B.C.'s wilderness, search and rescue volunteer Evan Johnson jumps into action, knowing he's in a race against time that can mean the difference between life and death. As an Afghanistan vet, Evan’s seen what no one should. So why would someone with PTSD volunteer to do this job? When Zeda Ali isn’t counting out beats for her students on the steel pan, she’s counting down the days to what could be the biggest moment of her career: the 55th Juno Awards. Zeda is one of five teachers from across the country nominated for the music teacher of the year award. She tells us what a win – and a substantial cash prize – would mean to her students in Brampton, Ont.  While most people his age are looking to the future, 26-year-old Zach Dunn is working to preserve the past. For the last five years he's traveled the country recording stories from WWII veterans, before it's too late. And that's because Zach knows from personal experience what it feels like to miss out on the chance to hear these stories first-hand.  Amy Cameron and Joe Ross had plans to spend their retirement years biking, traveling and living life to the fullest. But when Amy was suddenly diagnosed with early onset dementia, they realized that their future was going to look different. Now the two are living life together knowing that at some point, the brain disorder will fully take over.

    53 min

  2. 26 FEB

    After addiction, a mom fights to regain her daughter's trust

    For years, Melissa MacMillan's opioid addiction brought chaos to her life - especially with her daughter Eden. Now, almost five years into recovery, Melissa and Eden share the tough conversations they're having as they try to rebuild their relationship. What does it take to be truly 'out of the woods,' getting through one big life hurdle, only to face a whole new set of challenges? That's what this episode of Now or Never is all about. A few weeks ago, Lisa de Lusignan wrote in to Now or Never to tell us about losing her husband to ALS, and the surprising thing helping her through her grief: pickleball. So of course we called her up, to find out how joy and sadness co-exist on the pickleball courts. “Nobody looked at me like, ‘Oh geez, I hope she’s OK today.' Which is fine! And lovely for people to do that. But sometimes I just want to be a girl coming to play pickleball, not the sad wife." Since coming to Canada from Eritrea 23 years ago, Alazar Beyene has been giving new life to old shoes. But with the rise of fast fashion, business declined, so when his old patching machine broke down, Alazar was thinking about changing careers. Enter Marsha Shandur and her beloved winter boots. How Marsha turned to the power of the people for help to replace Alazar’s machine.  Mary Howley is on the hunt for a part-time job. She worked in the financial industry for nearly 30 years, but living as a single retiree in Ontario isn’t as financially secure or care-free as she’d hoped. Tiffany Bird went 25 years without ever consuming a vegetable. She has ARFID, a fairly new and often misunderstood eating disorder that significantly restricts the volume and variety of foods people eat. For decades, the condition consumed her life and her health. Today, Tiffany is learning to accept that she may never be free of ARFID.

    53 min

  3. 12 FEB

    Take it or leave it: the art of giving advice

    You know the feeling. You’re unsure. Stuck between two choices. The imposter syndrome is bubbling up, and you just need a little help. So who do you turn to for advice? And how likely are you to take it? This week on Now or Never, we’re sifting through the opinions, mantras, and clichés, to find out what works (and what doesn’t) when you get and give advice. Ify and Trevor call up the Winnipeg senior citizens behind the Misericordia Place Life Advice Hotline, for tips on love, dating, and moose hunting. 1-800-wisdom at your fingertips! For the past six years, Farideh Olsen has been recording voice notes full of advice for her 10-year-old daughter, just in case she dies. Farideh is completely healthy, but her biggest fear is that she won’t be around when her child needs advice, so Farideh is leaving lessons for her baby, including how to deal with her dad.  When Amanda Oake was feeling stuck in a rut working as a nurse manager, her best friend Krista told her to quit her job and buy a bee farm that was up for sale in western Newfoundland. So, Amanda did…despite knowing next to nothing about beekeeping. Years later, does Amanda regret taking her friend’s advice so quickly? Julie Gordon, in Victoria, has always had a hard time making decisions. She would call on her friends, look for advice on the internet and when that didn’t work, she started to visit psychics. A few years ago, that search for guidance and reassurance let her down a path that cost her thousands of dollars and derailed her life. Ten years ago, former Olympian and founder of I Challenge Diabetes, Chris Jarvis, tried to push himself to do a 160km ski marathon in Quebec; but problems related to his Type 1 diabetes meant he couldn’t finish. Now he’s challenging himself again, and pushing past all the bad advice he’s received throughout his athletic career, about what’s possible for someone with diabetes. Plus, Winnipeggers weigh in on the best and worst advice they ever received, and what they’d tell their younger selves.

    52 min

  4. 5 FEB

    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

  5. 29 JAN

    '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

  6. 22 JAN

    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

  7. 15 JAN

    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

  8. 8 JAN

    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
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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
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © CBC 2026
  • Show Website
    Now or Never

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