Sitting down with a January 6 protester

On this week's Storylines, we start on January 6, 2021, when the U.S. Capitol was overrun by rioters

A few blocks away, as the dramatic scenes unfolded, CBC journalist Katie Nicholson was confronted by a group of angry Trump supporters who heckled her and said she should get out of their country. One woman accused her of “spewing BS” and said that she and her crew should run. 

Ever since that day Katie has been thinking about who those people were, and what compelled them to join the crowd marching to the Capitol. Now, with the U.S. in the midst of a volatile election campaign, she also wondered if their thinking has changed

So she decided to track down the women who told her to run. It turns out the woman's name is Tracey Danka and she lives in North Carolina. Tracey invited Katie to her home to talk about what happened that day and the deepening political divide in America.

In Katie’s documentary we learn surprising information about Tracey, including the fact she’s married to a Democrat.

Also, the story of Robert Miniaci, a master of the lost art of projector repair. While most cinemas use digital projectors, museums and film devotees still depend on the analogue ones. That’s where Robert comes in: from his garage in Montreal he repairs projectors that are used around the world. 

Katie Nicholson’s doc was produced by Liz Hoath and originally aired on The Current.  

The documentary on Robert Miniaci was produced by Craig Desson and Julia Pagel and originally aired last April on The Sunday Magazine. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit