As It Happens

It's been five years since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. His cousin tells us she won't stop fighting to make sure his death leads to lasting change.Shreya Mishra Reddy was fulfilling a dream by attending Harvard -- but now that the Trump administration wants to bar international students, she has no idea what will become of her, or her expensive education.Can't teach a new Kat old tricks. A lot of Americans say it's time to say goodbye to the Democrats' old guard -- emphasis on "old". And 26-year-old online personality Kat Abughazaleh is ready to be the life of the party.Making history and prehistory. Almost forty years after a father and daughter discovered a fossil in British Columbia, it's officially recognized as a new genus and species.Doing the rounds. People put a lot of things on bagels, but only the late Judith Hope Blau put smiley faces on them -- and the resulting artworks made her the family breadwinner.And...he was just lying there, and then Prow! In Norway, an off-course container ship runs aground and nearly smashes into Johan Helberg's cottage, sending the neighbourhood into a panic -- except Johan Helberg, who sleeps through it.As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio that assumes by now he's been to hull and back.

Two young staffers from the Israeli Embassy are shot on the street in Washington DC; a friend of one of the victims says Sarah Lynn Milgrim was a bright light – and her loss is devastating.A Canadian nurse in Gaza says more and more malnourished children are being brought to her hospital – so the territory needs a lot more aid shipments, and it needs them now. Weeks after the federal election, a Newfoundland and Labrador riding is still awaiting the results of a recount; the candidates tell me how they're dealing with the suspense.The man who coached Canadian basketball star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in high school reflects on the new NBA MVP.Newfoundland and Labrador writer Michael Crummey tells us he's known for weeks that he'd won a major literary award -- but it still hasn't sunk in. And, the semi-colon may be on the decline, but your love for it is not! We’ll hear from the listeners who called in to show their support for precise punctuation.As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that celebrates a victory for comma sense.

President Trump has big plans for the "Golden Dome" and he says Canada wants in. Former Minister of National Defence David Pratt tells us it actually is about time that Canada bolstered its missile defence.A woman looking to sell her charming country home in Ireland tells us why she decided go with a lottery approach -- which the winner will end up purchasing for an investment of about 9 bucks.Canada has never had a successful domestic car company of its own -- but one industry leader says it's past time to take the idea for a test drive.Climbers summited Everest today using a new method that allowed them to do it in days, instead of the usual weeks. A veteran mountaineer says they're missing the point.The Chicago Sun-Times is called out for a "summer reading" list that includes novels that don't exist -- generated, it may not surprise you, by AI. And, water voles are endangered in Wales -- but by feeding them sparkles so they poop out sparkles, scientists see a glimmer of hope.As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that assures you the sparkles are safe -- so it's no-harm dung.

Magnus Carlsen may be the world's greatest chess player -- but a game against 143,000 simultaneous opponents didn't offer him the easy win he may have expected.The leaders of France, Britain and Canada threaten action against Israel if it doesn't lift its restrictions on aid, and end its military offensive in Gaza. A former Canadian ambassador tells us what that might accomplish -- if anything. In response to a water crisis in a small village in Nunavik, the mayor declares a state of emergency. She tells us how thirsty residents are coping.Trump says Qatar's offer of a free, lavishly appointed jumbo jet is a nice gesture from an ally -- but new reporting suggests there's more to the story.The best things in life are three. An Ontario woman was shocked to find two female robins and a male co-parenting in a single nest on her front porch -- a family she has dubbed the Avian Sister Wives. And, a new study finds the puzzling, peculiar punctuation mark is getting less popular all the time -- to the point where it may have been sentenced to death.As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that watches the collapse of the dot-comma bubble.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone today at length, but one analyst says what he saw wasn't so much progress toward a ceasefire, but the U.S. President failing to stand up to Russia.Eighty years after his father's plane was shot down over Dorset, the son of a Canadian Flying Officer killed in the Second World War tells us how he pieced together the details of that day -- and how he's commemorating them now.A Vancouver art student tells us why she wanted to take portraits of others who, like her, spent time in foster care.An English historian explains how he liberated an original version of the Magna Carta from obscurity, after discovering it deep in the Harvard Law School archives -- because it was believed to be a copy.Fifty years after "Jaws" made the waters around Martha's Vineyard seem very scary, a long-distance swimmer is braving them, to show that sharks deserve our friendship, not fear.As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that just hopes things don't get too chum-my.(Plus: A bonus episode of "As It Happened: The Archive Edition" featuring stories about surprising and incredible journeys.)

I'll talk to the man who has served as the head carpenter for "Saturday Night Live" since the very first episode -- on the eve of his very last episode. The trial of five ex-world junior hockey players accused of sexual assault is thrown into disarray once again, as the judge discharges the jury for a second time.A doctor who ran for his life when wildfires hit Los Angeles this year tells us the aftermath hasn't been easy -- so he set up a clinic to help others and, in some ways, himself. He put on more than a happy face. A member of the original cast of the classic musical "Annie" remembers composer Charles Strouse -- for the joy and vulnerability he put into every song. Students at Vancouver Island University are hard at work baking up a single Nanaimo bar -- that's more than 21 meters long and weighs over 450 kilos. And, a couple in England promised to build a storage facility for horse semen, but just built a house instead. And now their lie is going to get that house knocked down.As It Happens, the Friday Edition. Radio thinks they should have just built up an equine cellar.

An aid worker says new air attacks and dwindling food supplies are making life even worse for Gazans, but she's still finding a way to put on a brave face for her two kids.As Manitoba struggles to deal with deadly wildfires, the reeve of one hard-hit area tells us it hasn't been easy, but a massive outpouring of support has given him hope.A British bank analyst is sentenced to 10 years in prison in Saudi Arabia, and his own lawyer tells us she hasn't been told exactly what her client has been accused of.We hear from a Labrador woman who ended up stuck on a remote highway in a snowstorm – in May – and decided her best bet was to just start walking. The service we knew as "HBO Max" and then came to know as "Max", now requires us to come to know it as "HBO Max" again.And, a British conservationist tells us about the plan to bring elk -- which we call moose -- back to the UK, after an absence that's lasted thousands of years.As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that tells Britain: don't just stand there -- make yourself mooseful.

A political commentator says he's shocked that Gregor Robertson has been appointed Canada’s federal minister of housing -- because he couldn't get the housing crisis under control when he was Vancouver's mayor.Canada's first-ever Indigenous Minister of Indigenous Services, Mandy Gull-Masty, tells us a cabinet post was never a job she imagined having -- but has big plans now that she’s in the role.After the Taliban bans chess, a player who fled Afghanistan for safety in Belgium says he won't let the game he loves die in his homeland.As fires burn through parts of Manitoba, one man describes his family's dramatic escape.Producers uncover the long lost pilot episode of Thomas the Tank Engine TV show and put it up online, for fans longing to see how the show got itself on track.And, new research reveals that flamingos aren't passive feeders, but "super feeding machines" -- that use their bills to create a vortex that sucks up their shrimpy prey.As It Happens, the Wednesday Edition. Radio that moves in for the krill.

Longtime Liberal minister Steven Guilbeault talks to us about today's cabinet appointments, and what his present company means for Canada's future. British Columbia is making the case that American health care workers worried about Donald Trump should relocate to Canada. A nurse from Texas tells us things are unsettling, so she's considering resettling. Honda delays its multi-billion-dollar EV plant in Alliston, Ontario. The town's mayor tells that –- auto industry troubles aside – he believes the project just needs some time to recharge. New research into WIFW – which, of course, stands for "water-inducted finger wrinkling", reveals some analog truths about our digital appendages.A group of Finnish Eurovision fans are driving a sauna to Switzerland for this year's contest. One tells us getting people to grab a towel and join them is proving to be no sweat. And, one of the world's largest snails is filmed for the first time doing something with its neck that makes the hairs on ours stand on end – laying an egg. As It Happens, the Tuesday Edition. Radio that provides full-throated support.

There is celebration as the last living American hostage in Gaza -- 21-year-old Edan Alexander -- has been released by Hamas. A close friend of the family describes their elation. After the US and China agree to put tariffs on hold for 90 days, a supply chain expert tells us that's great -- but a suspension isn't the same as a solution.A sociology organization decides to move some sections of its upcoming conference north of the border -- because some Canadian members refuse to travel to the US. A Soviet-era spacecraft was meant to land on Venus spent more than 50 years trapped in Earth's obit -- until this weekend, when it finally came crashing down. Somewhere.The Professional Women's Hockey League breaks a record for the longest game, as Montreal and Ottawa battle their way into quadruple overtime. A fan who was there tells us how she survived the five-and-a-half hour match.And, it's the end of the end of the world as we know it. Scientists reveal that the universe will decay billions and billions of years earlier than they previously thought -- meaning the end of the world is merely billions and billions and billions of years away.As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that greets you with open armageddons.