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Updated 22/12/2023
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Updated twice weekly
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Society & Culture

Updated 26/11/2024
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Updated 22/04/2024

22 HR AGO

To fix America's caste system, acknowledge it exists: author

The true story of America is that it was built on a caste system comparable to India’s, says Pulitzer-prize-winning American journalist Isabel Wilkerson. The author argues that it's key to recognize the roots of the U.S. caste "structure" as she calls it, to understand why conflicts relating to race and class persist. Wilkerson delivered the 2025 Beatty Lecture at McGill University in Montreal.

22 hr ago

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54 min
23 OCT

George Eliot's invaluable life lessons on confronting reality

Virginia Woolf called George Eliot's novel, Middlemarch “one of the few English books written for grownups.” It’s a book full of characters asking: is it a good thing to live a life of duty, or is it ridiculous? Even after over 150 years since the book was published, it provides up-to-date lessons in how to live a modern life. *This is part one or two-part series. It originally aired on April 6, 2022. We'd love to hear from you! Complete our listener survey here.

23 Oct

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54 min
25/06/2019

S2: The Indian Act

What is the Indian Act and why Canada still have it on the books? The Secret Life team looks at the roots of this complicated policy, which after 143 years is still embedded in Canadian identity, from the policy that led to the Act to how it still impacts Indigenous identities today. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/inappropriate-questions-transcripts-listen-1.6740372

25/06/2019

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45 min
24 OCT

Can you have compassion for someone you never agree with?

Ask yourself: can you? It is a question that George Eliot asks over and over through her characters in Middlemarch, a 19th-century novel that speaks to our own fractious age. Eliot highlights how important it is to see the world from the point of view of others — even characters we don’t like. *This is second episode in our two-part series. It originally aired on April 7, 2002. We'd love to hear from you! Complete our listener survey here.

24 Oct

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54 min
22 OCT

The real reasons why more young women freeze their eggs

Egg freezing is one of today’s fastest-growing reproductive technologies. It's seen as a kind of 'fertility insurance' for the future, but that doesn’t address today’s deeper feelings of uncertainty around parenthood, heterosexual relationships, and the reproductive path forward. In this documentary, freelance producer Alison Motluk explores the history, significance, and reality of egg freezing for women.

22 Oct

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54 min
28/05/2019

S2: Chinatown

Most major cities across Canada have a Chinatown - but how did they start, and why? This episode, a look at the early history of Chinese people this side of the Pacific, and the historic Chinatown in B.C. that predates Confederation. (Hint: it's not in Vancouver.) For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/inappropriate-questions-transcripts-listen-1.6740372 We've developed free teaching materials for this episode. Check them out here.

28/05/2019

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28 min
25/04/2019

S2: The Medicine Line

This episode we look at the thing that literally defines Canada - the border. What happened to First Nations when the border was drawn right through their land? And as American "draft dodgers" came north, why did thousands of Canadians volunteer to fight for the U.S. during the war in Vietnam?

25/04/2019

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41 min
04/06/2019

S2: Shout out to Gay Asians of Toronto

As Pride celebrations kick off across the country, Leah and Falen shout out the Gay Asians of Toronto (GAT). Formed in 1979, this organization is thought to be the first LGBT group for non-white queer people in Canada.

04/06/2019

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5 min
09/07/2019

S2: Shout out to Atuat Akittirq

As Nunavut marks 20 years as a territory, Leah and Falen shout out mother, grandmother, educator, knowledge keeper and award winning artist Atuat Akittirq.

09/07/2019

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3 min
23/07/2019

S2: Your Letters

A mailbag episode! You asked and we answered your burning history questions which took us to the Cowichan sweater, Cheezies, the legacy of Hawaiian Canadians in B.C and one guy named Portuguese Joe. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/inappropriate-questions-transcripts-listen-1.6740372

23/07/2019

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30 min

Expand your knowledge and satisfy your curiosity with podcasts exploring the topics affecting us all — from science, climate, and tech news to history and human nature. Award-winning series that enlighten, entertain and inform.

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